Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin has been discharged from the hospital to complete his recovery at home, more than a week after he suffered cardiac arrest during an NFL game, his team said Wednesday.
In a statement, the Bills said Hamlin underwent a comprehensive medical and neurological evaluation at a hospital in Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday after being transferred there from Cincinnati a day earlier.
“We have completed a series of tests and evaluations, and in consultation with the team physicians, we are confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills,” Jamie Nadler, a critical care physician, said in a statement released through the Bills.
Hamlin, 24, was left in critical condition on January 2 when he collapsed during the Bills’ clash with the Bengals in Cincinnati, forcing the abandonment of the game.
The frightening incident, in which team medical staff resuscitated Hamlin on the field before he was taken to hospital by ambulance, once again put more scrutiny on the physically punishing nature of America’s most popular sport, although the precise cause of Hamlin’s medical emergency has yet to be determined.
Hamlin has made steady progress since he was hospitalized, regaining consciousness last Wednesday and addressing teammates via a video call on Friday.
He was released from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and admitted to the hospital in Buffalo on Monday, with Hamlin tweeting his thanks to the medical staff in Cincinnati and expressing gratitude for the outpouring of goodwill across the sporting world.
“The same love you all have shown me is the same love that I plan to put back into the world ‘n more,” he tweeted Monday.
Timothy Pritts, a UCMC physician, said Monday that Hamlin had watched the Bills’ 35-23 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday from his hospital room — reacting enthusiastically when teammate Nyheim Hines returned the opening kick off 96 yards for a touchdown.
“He was beyond excited,” Pritts said. “When the opening kick off was run back he jumped up and down, got up out of his chair and set off every alarm possible in the ICU in the process.”
Pritts said the normal recovery time for someone in Hamlin’s position was in the range of “weeks to months.”
“The goal of every patient who has suffered serious illness or injury is to have them return to as close to baseline as possible,” Pritts said.
“We anticipate that he will have likely ongoing needs — whether that is therapy or networking with various specialists.
“But he appears to be neurologically completely intact and there’s no reason to believe that he won’t continue his path to recovery.”
